The Cortez Historic Preservation Board wants to place the Calkins Building on Colorado’s Most Endangered Places list.
“The building is all boarded up, and we are very concerned about its future,” said Linda Towle, chairwoman of the Cortez Historic Preservation Board.
The board voted unanimously Wednesday to recommend the structure be designated an endangered place with Colorado Preservation Inc. The deadline for 2014 nominations is Aug. 16.
With no authority, the Cortez Historic Preservation Board only serves as an advisory role to the Cortez City Council, but Towle is hopeful the designation will help to raise awareness of the building across the state and region.
“The city, county and the hospital have all expressed interest in the past, but I think an outside developer will be the one to help save the building,” she said.
Cortez Mayor Danny Porter said the city would need to hold a work session to gather additional details from the Historic Preservation Board before any decision could be made.
“It’s a historic building, and I hope we can do something to help protect it,” said Mayor Porter.
The Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1 owns the Calkins Building. A second phase of construction was completed in 2011 to remodel the structure for school administrative purposes, but the project was later shelved because of lack of funding. At the time, officials estimated a complete renovation would cost $2.5 million.
The Calkins Building is currently listed on the Cortez City Register of Historic Structures, Sites and Districts.
Swedish immigrant Peter Baxstrom constructed the Calkins Building in 1909. The building was named after Dr. Royal W. Calkins, a local physician and former speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives. During the influenza epidemic of 1918, Calkins was credited with saving 462 lives.
The Calkins Building served as the Cortez schoolhouse from its construction in 1909 until 1947. Junior high students attended the school through the 1966-67 school year. The building was last used for school administrative offices until 2008, when it was vacated for renovations.
Colorado Preservation, Inc., was established in 1984, and it has released an annual endangered places list since 1997. Demolition, neglect, natural forces, land value fluctuation and unsympathetic owners are the driving forces that typically threaten historic buildings.
Constructed in 1934 by Grady Clampitt, the Kennedy/Mancos Grain Elevator was one of five structures added to the 2013 Most Endangered Places list, and the only structure in Montezuma County to receive the designation last year.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com
